Toh 2153Untitled

Exposition of Toh 2153 from the Tengyur

Context

Toh 2153 belongs to the Tengyur of the Northern Transmission, a collection of commentaries on the Buddha Dharma written by Indian commentators on the occasion of the Dharma’s transmission into Tibet. Although the title is not clearly recorded, this scripture lies within the Treatise Canon (Sūtrālaṅkāra-bhāṣya), that is, the section of treatises and explanations of the Mahayana scriptures. This is a deeply doctrinal work, serving those who already possess a foundation of understanding in the Buddha Dharma.

In the Mahayana tradition of the Northern Canon (Mahāyāna — Bactrian Canon), treatises such as this play the role of establishing reasoning and explaining the complex concepts of the Buddha Dharma. The Tengyur contains more than four thousand treatises, arranged into twenty-six sections. These works include both detailed commentaries and independent treatises intended to clarify the profound meaning of the scriptures of the turning of the Dharma wheel.

Main Content

As a treatise in the Tengyur, Toh 2153 continues the tradition of explaining the basic principles of the Mahayana. These treatises often focus on the concept of the bodhisattva path (Bodhisattva-mārga) — the path of practice of those who give rise to bodhicitta, the aspiration to liberate all beings. Within the framework of the Mahayana Northern Canon, this path is presented in the light of the Four Noble Truths (Catvāri-aryasatyāni), but expanded with the bodhisattva vision: not for oneself alone, but for all sentient beings.

Explanatory treatises such as this often analyze the selflessness of phenomena (anātmans), the teaching on karma, and especially the practice of the six pāramitās (Ṣaḍ-pāramitās) — generosity, discipline, patience, diligence, meditative concentration, and wisdom. They also explain the relationship between the Pratyekabuddha ground (Pratyeka-Buddha-bhūmi) and the bodhisattva ground, as well as the accumulation of the two stores: the store of merit (puṇya-sambhāra) and the store of wisdom (jñāna-sambhāra).